Actions & Alerts!
The Nobel Women’s Initiative is deeply concerned by the detention of Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire and other human rights activists on the Free Gaza Movement mission to deliver aid to the people of Gaza by boat. Israeli naval forces forcibly boarded the Free Gaza boat and detained the human rights workers late this afternoon, 23 miles off the coast of Gaza. Earlier in the day, the Israeli Naval Forces ordered the boat—at gun-point—to turn back. TAKE ACTION: Write the Israeli Government to Call for the Release of Human Rights Activists
Dear colleagues, The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR USA) invites you to join us in a two-part campaign this coming month focused on a tangible act of building peace and solidarity between the people of Iran and the United States. This effort is organized in memory of 290 people who lost their lives on July 3, 1988, when the USS Vincennes, a U.S. navy vessel, shot down an Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf. (For more information please check our website at www.forusa.org or our blog at www.forpeace.net.) Please join us and spread the word. The deadline for applications is Monday, June 8. We regret the short notice. Peace, Don't say we did not know #164 The people of El Ma'asara, and their Israeli and international supporters, have been conducting a strictly non-violent struggle, since November 2006. In spite of this, IDF soldiers often attack them with beatings, tear gas, rubber coated metal bullets, arrests and nightly raids on the village. Lately the army attacks have increased and some of the village leaders of the struggle have been arrested. Aung San Suu Kyi Dear Friends, Today Burma’s democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi will face trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest which forbids visitors, after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across Inya Lake and refused to leave her house. Aung San Suu Kyi has committed no crime, she is the victim of a crime. There was an intruder in her house who refused to leave, yet she is the one being imprisoned. GPPAC is calling on the United Nations and ASEAN to urgently dispatch envoys to Burma to demand the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all Burma’s political prisoners. Please go to this page where you can email the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon and ASEAN leaders to urge them to send envoys immediately. As you know Burma’s generals will use any excuse to keep Aung San Suu Kyi detained. If strong action isn’t taken, Aung San Suu Kyi could face the rest of her life in jail. It is not acceptable that the UN and ASEAN only speak out – they must take action. In the past their expressions of concern and statements have been ignored and defied by the Burmese regime. Words alone are not enough. The UN and ASEAN must immediately take real action and send high level envoys to Burma to ensure that Suu Kyi does not spend the rest of her life in jail. Today Aung San Suu Kyi will have spent a total of 13 years and 202 days in detention. The United Nations has ruled that Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention is illegal under international law, and also under Burmese law. The United Nations Security Council has also told the dictatorship that they must release Aung San Suu Kyi. Please take action now and ensure that Aung San Suu Kyi does not spend the rest of her life under arrest. . Vinaka-Shukriya, Peace Also sign here: AVAAZ, Free Aung San Suu Kyi APPEAL TO SOCIAL ACTIVISTS AND HUMANITARIANS Learn more: Memorandum submitted by Mr. Sivaji Lingam, M.P, Sri Lanka to Mr.L.K.Advani Situation In Sri Lanka A country that has a pseudo-democratic image like Sri Lanka which has a formal Government Set-up is allowed to violate the fundamental rights of a human being, execute Genocide and uproot a race from its soil.
Learn more about Etweda “Sugars” Cooper and the women of Liberia in Women’s Peace Activism in West Africa, The WIPNET Experience by Thelma Aremiebi Ekiyor and Leymah Roberta Gbowee at People Building Peace. Learn more about Women, War & Peace in a 4-part series on women's role in war and peacebuilding by PBS award winning program [wide angle]. Cultural Academy For Peace The ‘Spirit of Assisi National Award 2008’presented by the ‘Franciscan Centre for Peace and Dialogue’ has choosen Beena for ‘ her tireless work among the women victims of violence both in the public sphere and in the private domain.’ She will be presented with the award on 28th of March 2009 (Saturday) at the Chavara Cultural Centre In Peace, BESCHERM COLOMBIAANSE VROUWEN TEGEN OORLOGSGEWELD Veel meisjes en vrouwen in Colombia zijn het slachtoffer van seksueel geweld. De regering doet er nauwelijks iets tegen. Seksueel misbruik is een intimiderend en vernederend oorlogswapen. Het treft velen. Daders worden zelden berecht... Teken de petitie en roep de Colombiaanse autoriteiten op om onderzoek te doen naar alle gevallen van geweld tegen vrouwen, daders ervan te berechten en resolutie 1325 uit te voeren. Kom in actie en teken hier de petitie! A letter to IFOR concerning Madagascar Chers ami(e)s, Hildegard Goss-Mayr Hildegard Goss Mayr is one of the world's leading experts on non-violence and the Honorary President of International Fellowship of Reconciliation.
On the FORpeace blog, FOR discussed their reactions - a lot of joy mixed with some skepticism - about what changes this might bring to Washington, D.C. and to the nation.
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Articles & ReportsTensions rise ahead of Suu Kyi verdict BANGKOK // There are signs of growing unrest in Myanmar as the country readies itself for a verdict in the trial of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Diplomats in Yangon believe the recent delays in the trial reflects a growing nervousness among the regime’s military leaders over what to do about Ms Suu Kyi and there are fears a conviction will unleash a wave of political protests similar to those in September 2007. LTTE Is No Excuse For Killing
Vanni Civilians A young mother is injured and her three month old baby killed by shell fragments as she breastfeeds the child in the government declared no fire zone. Parents hide their children in roughly dug bunkers to escape LTTE press gangs who comb the no-fire zone for conscripts. A woman loses her husband to sniper fire and the toddler he was carrying too drowns when they attempt to wade across a lagoon to escape the no-fire zone. Updates: TamilNe report; Sri Lanka: Ethnic Strife, Fratricide, and the Peace vs. Human Rights Dilemma Photo Exhibit: Srilanka-Genocide TERROR IN MADAGASCAR
"It has been nine weeks that the crisis shaking the country began. The days go by at a crazy speed, since 26 January. Currently, the crisis has taken the path of vertiginous violence, moving relentlessly towards a silent war, which we describe as an atrocity. The clashes between the defenders of law and the transition are beginning to do damage. Some groups take a perverse pleasure to 'stalk' other groups. Two distinct camps have formed. In addition to the opposition 'legalistic-transitionnistes' the crisis is being taken in a different direction. The taboo that surrounds the race issue is being shaken..." See full reports (French only): Learn more about FOR Madagascar Loving our enemies: The people of Iran A delegation of 20 American peacemakers planned to visit the much maligned nation of Iran in late February. Only six received visas. Among these were David Hartsough and Franciscan Fr. Louie Vitale. They returned brimming with fondness, hope and heartening stories. THIS IS OUR TIME
On 7 and 8 March 2009, women and men from all over the world gathered in the Samuel K. Doe Stadium in Monrovia to landmark a historic moment: Women peacemakers rising to their feet, in order to effect lasting change in the world. The Colloquium, co-convened by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland, and supporting the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This is our Time by Isabelle Geuskens, WPP Program Manager, on this historic event. Click here for a summary of outcomes of WPP’s participation. Read more about this exciting event in an article by Euphemia A. Dzathor, WPP Afica Desk Coordinator. Without Peace, no Sustainable and Mutually
Beneficial Economy The Declaration of Tilburg strives for a transition to a sustainable and mutually beneficial economy. Up until now global distribution of resources and the environment have been the main issues. However, steps in the direction of peace and disarmament belong here as well, because of the many connections between the economy and preparations for violence... Report in Dutch, see a summary here. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict Read the full article: click here!
Wednesday, 25 February 2009 was the 23rd anniversary of the first Nonviolent “People Power” Revolution in the Philippines (1986). And Bobet Corral, in her own words, “was there in those four glorious, glorious days!!” Bobet is newsletter editor and publisher for the AKKAPKA Foundation and AKKAPKA is a member of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). Bobet recently visited the IFOR Secretariat in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, where I had an opportunity to sit down with her and learn about this courageous movement. I had asked Bobet to tell us about her story, so we all could learn more about nonviolent activism and host her successful effort on the IFOR website http://ifor.org/ . A few days after Bobet arrive back home, she sent me this historical perspective on the use of nonviolence in activism simply called “People Power…” Advocacy Package on Nuclear Disarmament Seeing a new momentum on the international scene, when diplomats, parliamentarians or security and army experts are finally sharing our vision and joining our call for a ‘zero solution’, the International Secretariat of Pax Christi International has decided to ‘arm’ our Member Organisations with an advocacy package. A package, that would summarise the key fact of the ‘nuclear problem’, explain a sudden rise of optimism and hope and give concrete examples for advocacy action. 48th International Conference on Education Note: An article on this conference was published by the review of the French branch of IFOR, Cahiers de la Réconciliation: pg 1, pg 2. Chronology of Women contribution in Politics, Women Political Prisoners
in Burma and Women Migrant workers Bang Niang, Phang Nga Province, and Southern Thailand. The officers were conducting ID checks on the construction sites. U Aung Min lives in one of the construction sites and said, “2 men and 5 women were arrested from my construction site but other sites have seen arrests. Total they arrested 38 people” Some employers tried to negotiate with the police to release their workers but did not succeed (ghre 19022009). Compiled by BWU www.burmesewomenunion.org
Appeal to the Israeli government: We the undersigned Jews want the Israeli occupation, settlements and blockade of Palestinian territories to come to an end. We call for humane living conditions and security for all the people in Israel and Palestine. You will find this Appeal at: www.humanrights-in-israel.ch in the following eight languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Ivrit, Arabic and Russian. Sri Lanka : The Last Round ? With the Sri Lankan government troops closing in to the remaining Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) stronghold, it looks as if this is the last round of a military struggle that began in 1983 but whose roots go back at least to independence in 1948... UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Item 4: Human rights situations that requires the Council’s attention.
Statement by Mr. Tenzin NORGAY
on behalf of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) Protest Letter: Presidents of Georgia and Russia
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Solidarity with Iranians
Pray The Devil![[Rebirthing King, Rebirthing America]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3205215070_351ccb5a76_m.jpg "http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=i3Jb48t4PN1R11VAy4hDSMhpkCl240EI")
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